Sanhedrin 11b

סנהדרין י״א ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The rules of עיבור השנה: רבן גמליאל's letters, the reasons for adding a month, and where and when it must be declared

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a comparison between the stern earlier leaders and the humble later ones. It then brings a ברייתא about three letters רבן גמליאל dictated: two announce ביעור מעשרות, and one tells the גולה that he added thirty days to the year. That letter mentions 'my colleagues', but the גמרא suggests it was written after he was removed from office. Next, a ברייתא lists three reasons for עיבור השנה (unripe grain, unripe tree fruit, and the תקופה) and requires two of them. A question about what רבן שמעון בן גמליאל meant ends in תיקו. Another ברייתא checks three regions of the land and gives יהודה special weight, because the עומר comes from there. The גמרא then rules that עיבור should be done in יהודה, with חנניה איש אונו holding that it does not count in the גליל at all. It also rules that leap years and new months are declared only by day, proven from a פסוק calling it a משפט. A new ברייתא about when a leap year is not declared begins at the end and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. StatementStern earlier leaders versus humble later leaders
2. ProofThe scene: רבן גמליאל on the הר הבית with his scribe
3. ProofLetters to the גליל and the דרום about ביעור מעשרות
4. ProofLetter to the גולה: thirty days added to the year
5. RejectionPerhaps this was after he was removed from office
6. StatementThree reasons to add a month to the year
7. StatementWhen grain is one of the reasons, everyone is happy
8. QuestionWhat did רבן שמעון בן גמליאל mean?
9. ConclusionThe question stays unanswered
10. StatementThree regions are checked, and יהודה matters most
11. Statementעיבור should be done only in יהודה
12. Statementחנניה איש אונו: in the גליל it does not count
13. QuestionWhat is the reason of חנניה איש אונו?
14. ResponseThe פסוק: every ruling must come from near the שכינה
15. StatementLeap years and new months are declared only by day
16. Questionרב אבא asks for the source
17. ResponseThe פסוק about the שופר is about ראש השנה
18. ResponseThe month is set by day, just like a court judgment
19. StatementA new teaching about leap years begins